Even
Alfred Hitchcock might have been hard pressed to conjure up a script with so many twists and turns. Early Monday morning trends on news television showed the
Congress leading in
Gujarat. And the seismic shocks rippled through social media. Then the tide gradually turned in favour of the BJP and the tone of the tweets changed too.
Yet, an engrossing suspense over the final tally persisted through the day. Will the BJP score a century or become a victim of the nervous nineties? Questions like these tormented the politically involved. @iamShubhbajpai's tweet perfectly summed up the shifting fortunes. "If someone woke up after 10 am to see trends... They would never know the earthquake that happened from 8.30 to 10," he posted.
The results dominated social media trends. Hashtags like #Elections2017, #GujaratVerdict, #ElectionResults and #HimachalPradeshElections figured in the national trends list on Twitter. Reddit's "Election Result Megathread" made it to the "front page" of the website. Tweeple took to live-tweeting what they saw on their television screens, while Redditors discussed the results threadbare.
Much was made of EVMs and their alleged tampering in the initial hours. Along with the results, many anticipated how the winning and losing parties would handle the consequences. "Early trends Hacked EVM's = 105 Proper EVM's = 75. #GujaratVerdict," quipped @padhalikha.
BJP politician
Shazia Ilmi's sarcastic post captured the day's mood. "9.15 baje EVM kharab 9.25 baje EVM theek hona shuru hui 9.35 baje EVM poori tarah se theek ho gayi Rahuilji worked very hard...9.45 EVM phir se Gujarat mein kharab ho gayi (9.15 EVM malfunctioning 9.25 EVM began to get fixed 9.35 EVM fully fixed Rahulji worked very hard... 9.45 EVM began malfunctioning again in Gujarat)"
During a half hour window in the morning, the BJP and the Congress ran neck and neck in Gujarat, "I am loving the current trend," tweeted Congress politician Khushbu at 9.12 AM. "This is more thrilling than a 20-20 Final. #GujratVerdict," said@Roflindian.
Not everyone waited for the drama to finish before expressing their opinions. Some jumped the gun. On television, a Congress spokesperson attributed the 'reverse' to BJP's arrogance before the trends swung around. Even columnist Shobhaa De tweeted at 9.44 am, "A gigantic thappad has been delivered in Gujarat. Elections 2019 looking interesting suddenly!" By 7.30 pm, the tweet had fetched 1,100 replies, many of them trolling her. Six hours later, she wrote, "A win is a win. Let's not be petty!"
Most politicians chose to be circumspect and refrained from commenting definitively until evening. Even Jignesh Mevani, whose victory from the Vadgam constituency was sealed by afternoon, chose to make a wordless statement on Twitter. His first post-win tweet was just pictures of his hand flashing a victory sign at a crowd from a window.
The outcome of
Himachal Pradesh election results was largely ignored online. @KiranKS pointed this out with a tweet saying: "People of Himachal Pradesh: Hey buddies.. We have also elected BJP. And it's a huge win. Please talk about us too... Social media: Sorry. We all are hooked to #GujaratVerdict."
